


My End and My Beginning

by Syrinide



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, M/M, Slow Build, jeanmarco, m/m - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-06-07
Packaged: 2018-01-26 07:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1679477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrinide/pseuds/Syrinide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marco's first day at Trost High seems pretty intimidating and stressful. All he wants to do is go back to Jinae, but he has no choice but to adjust to life living in the crowded city. It certainly won't be easy. He just needs to make some new friends and he'll be fine...Right?<br/>A perfect opportunity comes for him to talk to Jean, that cranky looking boy that sits in front of him in art class. It isn't as easy as he'd thought, but he's determined to get Jean to open up to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. His name is Jean Kirschtein

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I'm actually quite new to this site (seeing that I just made this account today ehuehue), but I've wanted to join for a while and put up a few fanfics.  
> I've been thinking about this one for a while, and FINALLY I get over my laziness and start writing it.
> 
> So anyways, here's chapter 1. I may not be the best writer yet, but I hope to improve!  
> Hope you guys like it.

“Come on, Marco. Pull yourself together.” Marco Bodt had whispered to himself, his hands holding the steering wheel in a death grip. As a seventeen year old boy suffering with mild anxiety, transferring to a new high school definitely wasn't something he’d consider easy.  Of course, it wasn't his choice to transfer here. If he had the choice, he’d stay back in Jinae High, where everyone was kind a sweet and all knew each other since it wasn't a very big school. His mother had to move here though to get a better job opportunity. Because it was a large and populated city here in Trost, she would get much better business at her Bakery. It’s been handed down through the family, so of course Marco didn't expect her to abandon it and all of its precious memories. Although money wasn't exactly easy to get, since the lack of customers they were getting back in Jinae, and they were lucky that they could at least afford a small apartment home in the midst of the busy city of Trost. Marco knew it was going to be challenging to adjust to the new surroundings, especially the new school. There were so many crowds of people bustling around and a lot of them (at least Marco found this,) seemed rather unfriendly and hostile. He came to the realization that his knuckles were beginning to turn white with his grip on the steering wheel, and he finally let go with a shaky sigh. Marco Bodt had sat outside Trost high in the safety of his car for what felt like a century. The idea of walking into a school where everyone was already established with one another while he was that awkward new kid didn't appeal to him one bit, and he found himself actually cringing at the thought of it.

Well, it was now or never. He opened the door of his crappy little car, and it emitted a loud, high pitched creak, the hinges literally screaming in utter agony for the lack of oil it needed apparently quite badly. Right away, a few kids looked his way and some of them snickered at him and his unfortunate car choice. Unfortunately, with the paycheck Marco gets from working at his family bakery, this was all he could really afford. Ignoring the snickers from kid’s he’s never seen in his life, he swung his heavy bag over his shoulder and began to advance towards the intimidatingly large building, after of course making sure to lock his shitty car. Marco felt his anxiety beginning to stir up in his chest again as he approached the front doors. It was probably just the self-consciousness eating away at him, but he could have sworn everyone’s eyes were on him. Probably, and hopefully just his imagination, he thought. He was over thinking it all; it was just a high school, which he’s already spent two years in back in Jinae. This one just had _much_ more people in it. Two of the many front doors were propped open, most likely because it was the first day of school. Marco took in a deep breath as he entered through the doors into the air conditioned building. He took note right away as he stepped in that this school must be rich or something. The lobby was spacious, and light was pouring down from the sun roof that stretched up high above Marco and the rest of the students scattered around the large foyer. The light shone down on the polished white tile beneath him, making it glimmer. In the middle of the spacious lobby, there sat a large fountain with a padded bench wrapped all the way around it. Some students sat there, sipping Starbucks coffees and chatting idly. The school was absolutely breathtaking to Marco, and he stood there in awe of his surroundings for a good minute or two. What brought him back to his senses was two rude girls who pushed past him, making sure to sigh harshly in their frustration as they kept going. Marco’s brows furrowed a little as he veered off to the side, out of the way of people.

‘Ignore them, they’re just rude.’ Marco thought to himself as he reached into the pocket of his jeans to dig out a crumpled up paper; his class schedules. He un-crumpled it and squinted at the slightly morphed ink (due to him carelessly folding it up and stuffing it into his pocket this morning). He took note that first, he had visual art and it was in room 2015 on the upper floor of the seemingly massive school.

Up the stairs he went, trying his hardest to avoid bumping into anyone and possibly getting attacked. With the way everyone here seemed to have a stick up their ass so far, it wasn't looking good for the poor, shy, freckled teen.

 

* * *

 

Upon stepping into the art classroom, Marco noted that it wasn't as new looking as the lobby. The room was still almost as bright though, due to the large windows lining all along the back wall, illuminating off the white tiled flooring. The desks were set up in straight, simple rows, two chairs at each. Some students had gotten there before Marco, and had already occupied some of the seats. Some were lucky enough to get this class with a friend and sat with them, chatting and laughing away. Marco felt a little envious of them, and he wanted to make some friends as soon as he could. He decided he'd grab a vacant seat at the back of the classroom, sitting by himself at least for now. After pulling out his sketchbook (bought for this class, because he really doesn't draw well-) and his drawing pencils and setting them neatly in front of him, he watched the new faces enter the room. Some of them immediately were greeted by their friends and called over to sit with them, and some quietly sat by themselves like Marco had. Although, the freckled boy was beginning to feel a little self-conscious again; no one came to take the empty seat next to him. He wonders why.

Was it his clothes? his hair? Oh no, did he forget to put on deodorant this morning? He nonchalantly stretched his arms above his head, inhaling through his nose to see if there was any unpleasant smells coming from his pits. Nope, nothing. He was just being ridiculous now, no one was going to avoid sitting next to him, even if his armpits smelt bad. For the next five minutes, Marco remained sitting alone. He felt the presence of someone approaching him though, and he instinctively looked up to meet that persons eyes with his signature sugar-sweet Marco smile. The smile was quickly discarded though, because the guy he locked eyes with looked as if he was about ready to  _kill_  someone. Immediately, Marco felt his face grow a little hot with embarrassment and averted his gaze down to the cover of his sketchbook. The 'death glare' kid ended up pulling out a seat from the desk directly in front of Marco.

'Huh,' Marco thought after glancing up to look at the back of the guys head. He noticed that underneath his sandy colored hair, it faded to a dark brown closer to his neck. How unique...

But what was this guy's problem? He looked some angry. Maybe it was simply because it was the first day back to school. The longer Marco found himself staring at the back of this guys two-toned head, his thoughts began to run wild again. He was almost... intrigued with this guy, and it made him want to attempt speaking to him sometime. Maybe he was a sweetheart deep down, and was just having a bad day. Or maybe his face was just like that all the time, who knows.

"Um..." a deep yet shyly soft voice spoke up to Marco's left, snapping him out of his strange thoughts about the guy sitting in front of him. He glanced over- no, _up_. This guy was shockingly tall. He had short, yet shaggy chestnut brown hair. Marco noticed that he looked a little up tight, and there were a few beads of sweat that were scattered across his tan skin. His deep green eyes were locked on Marco's, looking almost hopeful as he spoke in his soft tone;

"Would you mind if I sat with you?"

"Not at all!" Marco beamed at the tall sweaty teen, maybe a little bit too enthusiastically. He felt like a try-hard. He was just extremely anxious to make new friends, because the thought of sitting alone at lunch and in all of his other classes made him feel nauseous. Frankly, he just really wanted (and needed) someone to talk to. The sweaty giant mumbled a quiet 'thanks', and took a seat next to Marco. He seemed to loosen up a little after that, seeming obviously less tense. Marco wanted to keep talking to the tall boy, but he couldn't think of what to say to him, so he just kept his mouth shut. He just watched as the guy pulled out his sketchbook and drawing pencils. He set them neatly in front of him, even making sure to align the pencils perfectly pointing forwards, adjacent to his sketchbook. Marco felt another presence, and he glanced up to see a muscular looking blonde setting his stuff down on the desk next to grumpy McGee ahead of him.

"Hey, Jean. I'm gonna sit next to you if that's alright." The bodacious blonde smirked, plopping down next to the boy Marco just recently found out is Jean.

 _Jean._ What a french name. Marco loved the sound of the accent on the J. It was... unique.

"Mhm." Jean had mumbled to the blonde, leaning back in his chair a little with a bored sounding sigh.

"Ah, shit." The buff blonde huffed, a bit of obvious irritation in his tone. He turned around in his chair to lock eyes with the sweaty giant.

"Bertl," He began, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his full lips. Marco noticed that this guy always seemed to have that same, smug look on his face.

"What is it, Reiner?" The kid named Bertl blinked as he met the kid named Reiners eyes. Marco noticed that the tall boy began to look slightly tense again, but definitely not as tense as when he began speaking to Marco.

"Can I borrow a pencil? Forgot mine at home."

With that, Bertl had immediately handed him one of the pencils he had perfectly aligned on his desk with a shy smile. "Here." His voice of course was soft.

"Thanks!" Reiner beamed, seemingly truly grateful that Bertl had lent him a pencil just for the class. After smiling warmly at the sweaty giant and making him turn a little red, he turned back around in his seat to face the front. Marco glanced back over to the blushing boy next to him, and before it turned to awkward silence between the two again he decided to take advantage of this opportunity. 

"So your name's Bertl?" He inquired, with a light smile.

"Oh," The soft voice again, more blush powdering his dark cheeks. "Well my name is Bertholdt, actually. A lot of people call me Bertl though... It's probably easier to say." By now, Bertholdt was returning a gentle smile to the freckled boy beside him. 

 _Good_ , Marco thought. _This seems like it's going well._

He was still so adamant on making at least some acquaintances, so he at least had someone to speak to in his classes. Bertholdt seemed very sweet, and Marco wanted to get to know him more.

"Nice to meet you, Bertholdt. My name's Marco." Marco kept that same sweet smile on his face as he spoke to the shy giant. He was a little worried that he may have pronounced his name wrong though. 

"You too." Bertl reverted his gaze back to the blank sketchbook sitting on the desk in front of him, and just like that, the conversation was over. Marco was a little disappointed that it seemed to end so quickly with only an exchange of names, but clearly Bertholdt was very shy. He decided it's best to just drop the small talk for now maybe.

"Aaalright, class!" the teacher's sudden, cheerful voice made Marco jump a little in his seat. he could have sworn he saw Jean flinch as well in front of him. He watched as the teacher stepped up to the whiteboard, grabbing a red marker and scribbling rather messily along the board to write her name. 

"You can just call me Ms. Hanji." She chimed happily, causing some of the guys at the other side of the classroom to snicker quietly with each other. it was most likely about Ms. Hanji's extremely enthusiastic tone. 

"Today I'm going to get you to fill out some self evaluation sheets," she began, making the same group of guys that laughed earlier groan. She just shot them a look from over her glasses, and even Marco felt a little intimidated by her. She finally stopped glaring, and reverted her eyes down to the blue papers she had picked up. She wet her finger, and began to flip through the sheets as she walked around the classroom, passing them out.

"I only want to make sure that I have a full understanding of all of your strengths and weaknesses in art." She put four sheets on Marco and Bertholdt's desk, and Marco quietly thanked her before taking two of the sheets that were for him. 

"For the second sheet, you'll need to grab a partner. it's just to get to know your fellow classmates better, so I encourage you to partner up with someone you don't know so well." Hanji insisted as she plopped down into her padded chair, propping her feet up on her desk. "Alright, get to work!"

The next ten minutes was more challenging than Marco thought it would be, I mean, how hard could a self assessment be? Apparently this one was difficult, mostly because Marco wasn't sure how to answer these personal questions about himself. he honestly wasn't much of an artist, so he didn't know how to answer 'do you do any forms of art as a pastime?' He had no sweet clue what his weaknesses and strengths were in art, either. He only really took this class for an extra credit, since he already got the necessary ones to graduate. Finally, he scribbled in an answer for the last question and set it aside, reading over the interview sheet. Wow, how _cheesy_. 

There were questions like 'What's your favorite color?' and 'What's your favorite food?' Marco cringed a little. This definitely was an icebreaker he supposed. 

"Marco-" Bertholdt spoke up again, but was cut off by Reiner who was turned around in his seat again.

"Be my partner for the interview, Bertl." He smiled, and Bertholdt blinked and nodded quickly, almost frantically. Marco assumed Bertholdt was going to ask him to be his partner, but Reiner beat him to it. Oh well, he thought. Maybe this could be his chance to get to talk to Jean. Well, at least he wanted to so bad. Something about the cranky ass kid just intrigued him.

"Hey, uh, Jean?" Reiner spoke up, and Jean looked at him. "Mind switching seats with Bertl for the peer interview?" Jean was silent for a few seconds, before glancing back at Bert for a moment. Finally he nodded.

"Yeah, I guess." He sighed, standing up from his chair and picking up his back pack, sketchbook, and pencils. Marco felt his heart pick up a little in his chest, the thought of the boy he wanted to get to know better was going to sit next to him, and it was his big chance to ask him if he wanted to be his partner for the interview. You better not screw this up, he thought to himself, his eyes trained on Jean, who took Bertholdts place beside him. As Jean plunked his sketchbook and pencils in front of himself on the desk, Marco just watched him, debating when to ask. If he asked right away, it might sound desperate or even clingy, but if he didn't ask in time Jean might find a different partner. Oh god, what did he do? Should he ask now? He really wanted-

"Hey, wanna do this shit with me?" Jean's honey eyes were on Marco's now questioningly. His voice was definitely not as mean sounding as his face looked, and Marco felt a little more comfortable. He also felt relief wash over him, since Jean asked, saving him from all the anxiety and stress it caused him just to think about asking to partner up with jean.

"Oh, uh-!" He stuttered for a moment, and Jean raised a brow, waiting. "Yeah, of course!" Marco quickly put on a smile.

"Alright cool. I just kinda wanna get this shit over with, I hate these."

"Yeah, me too." Marco chuckled nervously, grabbing one of his mechanical pencils off the desk and readying it to the paper. "Who's asking first?"

"Eh," Jean sighed. Marco could tell just by the others tone that he was unbearably bored, or maybe just tired. "Just ask me first." He yawned, leaning back again in his seat, waiting.

"Alright. Okay, let's see, uh... First I need your full name."

"Jean Kirschtein." He muttered quickly, and Marco wrote it down.

"Okay," Marco smiled, dragging out the 'O' a little. "Any pets at home?"

"Pff no, my parents hate animals..." He just glances up at the ceiling as he answers, and Marco frowns.

Okay, _'no pets'_ he jots down.

"I've always fucking wanted a dog though, ever since I was little." Jean spoke up again, looking at Marco. Marco met those piercing honey eyes of his, and felt his cheeks grow a little hot, reverting his gaze quickly back down to the paper. Poor Jean. Marco was unsure of what to say, but before he could try and think of anything to reply with, Jean spoke up again.

"The fur gets on the furniture and shit." He said in a slightly mocking tone, his eyes rolling a little. Marco just chuckled at Jean. Jean appeared to be pretty sassy, and Marco found that amusing.

"Next question?"

"Right, um..." Marco read the next question aloud. "Favorite band?" Jean just sighed at this question, his eyes rolling up to look at the ceiling again. 

"Hmm..." He scratched his head, seeming to be in deep thought. "I dunno, I like lots. I guess like, fallout boy, uh... Arctic Monkeys..."

"Arctic Monkeys?" Marco questioned with a slight chuckle as he wrote it down. What a strange name for a band. Jeans eyes widen, and Marco wonders what exactly made Jean look so very shocked all of a sudden.

"You don't know who they are?!" He sits up straight again in his seat, immediately fishing in the pocket of his hoodie and pulling out his iPhone. "They're amazing. Here, you gotta hear a song from them." Jean handed Marco a headphone, popping one of them into his own ear.

"Uh, yeah, sure!" Marco took the headphone, and put it in his ear. He watched as Jean tapped away at his screen for a few moments, and finally the sound of a slow beat started up, and led to a rough sounding guitar riff. Marco already found it catchy, and he smiled as he looked up to meet Jean's eyes. Jean was watching Marco's face, for a reaction probably, so Marco just smiled quickly. 

"It's really catchy, actually." Marco chuckled, and Jean smirked lightly. Oh god, he made him smile! Marco felt his heart picking up a little in his chest again, the thought of making Jean's normal scowl soften, and turn into a smile made him feel ecstatic. 

"I know. They're awesome." Jean just pulled lightly on the headphones, it popping out of Marco's ear. He wrapped the wires around his iPhone quickly, and stuffed it back into the pockets of his slightly over sized deep grey hoodie. "Next question."

Marco couldn't stop himself from smiling at this point. He actually really liked talking with Jean, even if it was a little awkward. He felt comfortable with Jean, which was a new feeling for him. He's never been able to feel comfortable around anyone he just met, but Jean... Jean seemed different. Even though Marco thought Jean wanted to kill him when he first layed eyes on the freckled teen, but now he just had a feeling Jean's face was just always like that. As of now, Jean still had the scowl on his face as he waited for Marco to read the next question.

"This is the last one, actually."

"Fuckin' sweet." Jean seemed to smirk again slightly, leaning against the table, his cheek resting on his palm. "Shoot."

With every moment that passed, Marco felt more comfortable with Jean. It went from them both awkwardly only talking to each other because of the dumb assignment, to maybe potentially something more. Marco didn't know what it was, but all he knew was their relationship was starting to develop, and all he hoped was for it to keep on developing from here on out. Jean was just so easy to talk to, and Marco absolutely loved that quality about him.

"Alright. Favorite food?"

"PIZZA!" Jean belted, it making Marco laugh softly at his eagerness. "Pizza is so hella."

"Alright, pizza it is then." Marco jotted 'pizza' down on the line underneath the question, and sighed happily as he put down the pencil. "Okay, now it's your turn to ask me some cheesy questions."

Jean grabbed the paper with the questions on it, and readied his pencil. "Alright, you ready?"

"Yep."

"Okay, full name."

"Marco Bodt."

Jean began to write his name on the line, and Marco took note right away how surprisingly small and neat Jean's handwriting is. 

"Oh, Jean?"

"Mhm?"

"There's actually a silent 'D' in front of the 'T' here." Marco pointed to his last name with a shy smile. Jean had spelled it as 'Bot,' which was in fact how it was pronounced.

"Oh, sorry, man." He'd quickly erased it, and wrote it properly this time. 

"Alright, do you have any pets?" Those honey eyes met brown ones again as he asked the question.

"I have a cat." Marco smiles, and Jean noticed how some of Marcos freckles pooled into the small dimples he had on his cheeks. Quickly though, his eyes moved back to the paper, to write 'cat'.

"Cool beans." Jean muttered as he finished writing.

 _Wow. What a dork_ , Marco thought, unable to hold back his smiling. Jean just... made him feel unnecessarily happy and light, like speaking to him made him forget about any other issues he had. Especially his damn anxiety. Maybe there was super nice people in Trost, Marco just had to find the right person to befriend. And he thinks he certainly did. The rest of the questions flew by rather fast. Jean ended up laughing playfully at one of Marco's favorite artist, which just so happened to be Britney Spears.

"She has TALENT." Marco insisted, only to have Jean just shake his head and laugh even more at him.

"You're so weird." Jean managed, after his laughing fit. Marco smiled for what seemed to be the millionth time this morning, and for once, that tight feeling of anxiety in his chest dissipated. He was already making sarcastic jokes with Jean, which means _friends_. Because _friends_ make sarcastic jokes together.

 

* * *

 

 

Marco didn't really want art class to end. He was having too much fun talking to Jean, and he certainly wasn't looking forward to going to his next classes without him. But, to Marcos surprise (and excitement), the two ended up having Philosophy together. As Marco was walking down to where the classroom was located, Jean smirked;

"You following me?" He asked, making Marco chuckle.

"No, I swear! I have Philosophy too."

That class was just as fun as art, because Marco got to sit next to Jean again. This time, there wasn't any peer interviews to fill out though. But what made Marco the happiest was the fact that they didn't need to be interviewing each other with pointless questions. They just talked and joked together the whole time, but made sure to quiet down as they were shushed by the teacher. 

the bell rang for lunch, and Marco felt a little worried that Jean would have plans with his friends or something. He wanted so badly to ask Jean if he wished to hang out during lunch break, but again, his anxiety began. The familiar feeling constricted him and made him feel trapped. He just wanted to spend more time with Jean, because of the amount of comfort Jean brought him, but now wasn't the time to seem like a clingy friend.

"Wanna chill?" Jean was standing, his binder tucked under his right arm, and his bag slung over his shoulder.

Marco just nodded very fast. Jean read his mind again, and was the one to ask. The two boys then walked together to the lunch room, only to see that all the tables were full. Jean said that he knew a spot they could eat outside, but before Marco could agree, Reiner was calling them over to sit with him, Bertholdt, and a short, cynical looking girl with tied back blonde hair that he hasn't become familiar with yet. Lunch was nice. Marco was beginning to take a liking to Bertholdt and Reiner, and he noticed Bert seemed more calm and even able to speak more. He felt like he could relate himself with Bertl, since he suffered from being overly shy as well. He was just so happy, and so lucky, that on the first day he had made such fantastic friends. He laughed hard when Jean choked on his chocolate milk after Reiner had said Bertholdt's ass looked great in the skinny jeans he was wearing today. Marco wasn't sure how they even got onto this topic, but Reiner was so open, and Bertholdt's face was priceless. Although the blonde girl, named Annie, didn't seem very affected by any of this. Sometimes Marco would catch her smiling slightly during one of Reiners jokes, or when someone said something funny. She wasn't very talkative at all, but Marco thought she was still sweet. Finally, the bell rang, signalling lunches end. Apparently Reiner and Bertholdt had their next class together, so they said their goodbyes and headed off together. Jean had said he had Human Biology next, and unfortunately Marco had English. Also, Jean didn't even take Advanced math, so it looks as if they had to part ways for today. The thought made Marco feel a little sad, but he reassured himself. He would get to see Jean tomorrow, it was no big deal, really. Jean had said goodbye, and him and Marco finally parted ways for the rest of the day.

 

* * *

 

 

Finally, the dismissal bell. The last two classes were extremely painful, especially math. Marco wasn't exactly exceptional at it, but he wanted to be as well educated as he could be. As Marco was driving home, his mind ran over today's events. He was almost positive today was going to be terrifying and horrible, and he half-expected to be bullied or something, like every new kid ever in movies. But it wasn't the case at all, he actually made more friends than he even imagined he would. Reiner, Bertl, Annie, a guy named Armin that he sat next to in math, and then there was Jean. 

 _Jean_. The name was so fun to say, even if it was only in Marco's head he was repeating it. Jean was just such an interesting person, and just thinking about him got Marco smiling. The thought of the way Jean talked. The thought of the way Jean was such a goddamn _dork_ is what made Marco's face flush. Wow...

Maybe this year won't be nearly as bad as he thought.

 

 


	2. What's wrong?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's wrong with Jean, and Marco just wants to be able to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I didn't really expect to get any kudos or anything, so it really means a lot!  
> It gives me that little confidence boost I need to keep going, honestly. Thanks guys! ^^
> 
> Also, I apologize for the delay! Math is super stressful, and it's hard to find the time to work on this, eep. ;w;

 

The small little bell on the Bodt's Bakery door chimed as Marco stepped in.

"Hey, mom." He set his school bag down on the floor next to the 'Welcome' mat, and approached the rather short woman, to wrap his arms around her.

"Hi, honey. How was your first day? Were people nice to you?" She returned the hug, a warm smile on her plump face. Marco nodded happily and pulled away from the embrace to look down at his mother. He noticed she had a bit of flour dusting her cheeks and her work apron, and guessed she must have been baking. 

"Yeah, actually! I made quite a bit of friends already." Honestly, Marco didn't expect to come home with butterflies fluttering around in his belly after the first day at Trost High school. He wanted to tell his mother all about it, all about Jean, and how he thought he was a life-hating crankpot but he turned out to be so damn funny and sweet and just so _dorky_.

"That's great. I knew they'd like you." She had chuckled as she picked up a small tray. Marco stared down at the sweets lined up on the tray, beginning to feel his mouth water as the delicious scent filled his senses. She had held the tray out to him with a smile.

"I thought maybe I'd make your favorite, today." 

Marco immediately took one, thanking his mother for her copious amounts of kindness. The small strawberry tart tasted just as amazing as Marco had ever remembered. He closed his eyes, savoring the sweet, yet tangy flavor. after he swallowed, he smiled down at his mother, thanking her again for making his favorite treat. These had always been his favorite, ever since he was little. His mother just nodded, and placed the tray of tarts up on one of the display shelves. 

"Need any help with anything?" Marco's question was a little muffled from the food in his mouth.

"I'm fine, I think. I already finished baking and tidying up, so don't worry about it, today." She leaned against the counter, looking a little worn out from all the work she had done today. Marco felt bad for her, having to do everything all by herself. He tried to help her as much as he could, knowing she can't afford to hire people. She had invested everything they had on this new bakery here in the city, and on top of that, their apartment.

"So, ready to close up, then?" Marco had picked his bag back up, slinging it over his shoulder again. He watched as his mother hung up her flour covered apron, giving him a nod.

"Yep, I believe so." She let out a tired sigh.

Marco waited patiently by the front door for his mother as she went around back to grab her coat. To save her some time, he flicked off the lights and turned the 'Come in, we're open' sign around. Marco drove the both of them home that afternoon, and ended up stopping on the way to pick up a few groceries. When they got home, Marco helped his mother unload the groceries and make supper. He had always felt like he had a very close relationship with his mother. She was all he really had ever since he was little, and she worked so hard to take care of him all by herself after his father had passed. He respected his mother so much, and was always helping her out as a way to repay her for all of the love she gives Marco. After eating, his mother went to bed. It was probably a good idea for Marco to retire soon too, but he didn't feel tired yet, so he watched a little bit of TV first. Finally, around eleven o'clock he began to felt his eyelids become heavy, and he changed into his pj's and crawled into bed.

 

* * *

 

 

Marco awoke the next morning to a shrill, repetitive beeping. Quickly, he turned off his alarm clock and sat up, tiredly rubbing at the sleep in his eyes. He had never liked getting up so early, but then again, who did? He managed to drag his tired ass out of his bed and into the shower. The water was so warm and nice, and it took extra effort to pull himself out of the shower and get dressed. The apartment was extremely quiet, because his mother had already left for work. She had to get up way earlier than Marco to open up the bakery for the day. Marco made some toast right quick, and munched on it on his way down to his car. On his way to school, he didn't even have time to get frustrated about the insane traffic in the city that he was stuck in, because he couldn't wait to talk to his friends again. He couldn't get Jean's cute smirk out of his head. Hang on... _cute_?

the car behind him honked suddenly, and his eyes widened as he realized the light had turned green. He was too lost in his weird thoughts that he didn't go when the light changed, obviously angering the person behind him. Quickly, he pressed his foot down on the gas, his brows slightly furrowed. City life might take longer than he thought to get used to. The traffic took a while to get through, but finally, Marco pulled up into the schools parking lot just in time for the first bell to ring. He gathered up all of his stuff, slinging his back pack over his shoulder, and stepping out of his car. Of course, the door screeched again, but luckily no one was in ear shot to witness the slightly embarrassing situation this time around. He had roughly five minutes until the next bell, so he jogged up to the entrance and through the halls. Today he had philosophy first, which made him happy since he had it with Jean. He stepped into the classroom, with about two minutes to spare, and took a seat. Jean wasn't there yet Marco had noticed, glancing at the empty seat beside him. He pulled his binder out of his bag and set it on his desk, along with a pencil and a pen. Jean's probably running late or something, he thought, unzipping the binder and opening to an empty sheet of paper. There was a sudden plop from next to Marco, and he looked over to see Jean, slumping over onto the desk. He looked tired and miserable, and Marco could see the dark, sleep deprived lines under his eyes.

"Uh... Hey, Jean." Marco smiled brightly at the boy next to him. Jean just shifted a little in his seat, burying his face into his folded arms resting on the desk.

"Hey." He mumbled almost silently, his voice muffled. Marco was a little confused why Jean was acting like this, it seemed like yesterday he was happy and full of funny jokes that made Marco almost cry laughing. 

"You... Okay?" Marco craned his neck slightly, to see if he could get at least a glimpse of Jean's face. Jean just grunted as if to say yes, remaining still. Clearly, Jean wasn't okay. Marco knew immediately that there was something eating at Jean, it was quite obvious with the way he was acting.

"Um... Want to talk about it?" Marco offered, leaning down a little next to Jean. Jean shook his head no, but kept his face buried in his folded arms. Marco just sighed softly, and leaned back in his chair. He wasn't going to push someone he just met to tell them why they were so down, and he certainly didn't expect Jean to talk about it if he really didn't want to. For the rest of the long class, Jean remained just like that, huddled up in a little ball, hiding his face in his arms and blocking everyone out. The teacher even glared at him for a while, and Marco just shrugged at the surprisingly short, extremely intimidating looking man as if to say 'He's just having a bad day'. Marco was hoping that maybe Jean would sit up again, and just give him that friendly smirk he did yesterday, but he didn't, and as the bell sounded, he just got up quickly and left without saying a word to Marco. Oh no... Marco must have done something to upset him, didn't he? His mind raced as he trudged to Math class, thinking over every little thing he's ever said to Jean, trying to find something that could have rubbed him the wrong way. But... nothing. He couldn't think of a single thing that could have pissed him off to that extent, so he just hoped and prayed that it was something else entirely that upset him.

Math was stressful. Marco tried his best to pay attention as the teacher was speaking, but he found his mind always drifting off. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep the image of Jean sulking around out of his mind. The sound of Armin clicking his pen beside him is what pulled him from his thoughts finally. He just wanted to push them away and out of his mind, because it was making him feel worse to think about the fact that Jean was so sad, and he didn't really do anything. It made his stomach hurt quite a bit, it must be guilt.

"Ahh... Marco?" Armin was looking at Marco with those big blue eyes of his, apparently finished with clicking his pen.

"Yeah?"

"I can't seem to get this answer right. Do you think you'd be able to help me find where I messed up?" Armin sounded a little sad, honestly. He took a lot of pride in his math, and usually he was the one getting all of the questions right.

"Of course," Marco offered, taking Armin's notebook and reading over the equations, working everything out in his head.

"Right here." Marco pointed to one of the many numbers scribbled out on the page, and Armin leaned in a little closer to get a better look at what Marco was pointing out. He then laughed softly, and pressed his palm to his forehead.

"Wow, I can't believe I missed that. Thanks, Marco." Armin took his notebook back as Marco smiled.

"No problem."

 

* * *

 

 

"Where's Jeanbo at?" Reiner questioned Marco as he sat down at the lunch table. Marco just sighed, honestly hoping Jean would be here at the table with that intriguing smirk of his, but of course he was no where in sight.

"I really don't know... He was acting a little weird this morning in Philosophy." Marco had pulled out a little Tupperware container of those special strawberry tarts his mother makes from his bag. He thought it would be kind to bring every one sweets today.

"What kind of weird?" Reiner raised a brow at Marco, although his eyes strayed down to the container of tarts a few times, then ended up fixed on Marco's eyes again.

"Well... He seemed pretty sad, actually. He wouldn't talk to me, and for the whole hour he had his head down."

"Ah, he's like that sometimes. Just give him a day and he'll be fine. Tomorrow he'll be himself again." Bertholdt spoke up this time, a concerned expression on his face. 

"Oh, well okay." Marco tried to smile, acting as if he was okay with such a simple answer as that. But he wasn't really. Was no one questioning what exactly made him 'get like that'?

"Anyways..." Marco set the container on the table, pushing it into the middle. "My mom made these, so I thought I'd bring you some."

The three at the table seemed to light up a little (Well, Annie almost did), and gave Marco quick 'Thank you's', taking one each. There was two left in the container after they had taken their share. One was for Marco, so he took one and bit into the soft, sweet pastry. The last one was supposed to be for Jean, but Jean was off somewhere else. Probably alone and sad, Marco thought, it making him feel even worse.

"This is amazing, Marco." Reiner had finished his in almost one bite, while Bertl and Annie were still nibbling on theirs like mice. Marco smiled after swallowing a bite of his.

"Your mom must do this a lot." Bertholdt mumbled, finally popping the rest of the tart in his mouth. Annie didn't say much, but Marco knew she was enjoying it, and that's all that mattered.

"Yeah, we actually own a Bakery in town." 

"Sweet, I'll have to visit there more often if it means I can get my hands on more of those." Reiner chuckled, and Marco smiled. They were really nice, and Marco really enjoyed spending time with them, even if it was only on lunch hour and art. Which was next. Which Jean was in that class too, and maybe Marco could talk to him. After a while of talking and joking, Reiner managing to somehow embarrass Bertholdt again and make Marco laugh, the bell had rang. They all said goodbye to Annie as they headed off to art together. Marco said he didn't mind when Reiner asked him if it was okay if he stole Bertl for the class. Marco really didn't mind, because then Jean would probably sit by him, and this time he'd be a better friend and try and cheer him up.

But of course, Jean was a no-show. Marco felt his heart sink as the bell rang and Ms. Hanji shut the door. He was worried about Jean; even if earlier the others made it quite clear that this tends to happen a lot. As Marco was working on his little sketch assignment, it was no surprise to him that he couldn't push that boy out of his mind, even if he tried. He was just dying to know why Jean had these episodes, and what triggered them. This was all so stupid though, he thought. He had to keep reminding himself that he only knew the kid for one day, and yet he has this urge to just want to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, and that he's here for him when he needs someone. 

 

* * *

 

 

Marco was finishing up a writing practice as the dismissal bell sounded, and he gathered all of his things and left the classroom. Trying to get out of the crowded school at the end of the day was a challenge, and Marco had to avoid getting literally pushed over by the impatient teens just wanting to get the hell out of there. He agreed with the rude, pushy kids though, because today he honestly just wanted to get the hell out of there too. When he stepped outside, the freezing, pouring rain struck him hard. He held his binder over himself, deciding to run to his car. He made it to his car only a little uncomfortably wet, and jumped in, luckily the sound of the rain hitting the pavement was enough to disguise some of the agonizing screeches of his car door as he got in and closed it behind himself. Today, the traffic wasn't as bad as it usually was, so he managed to pick up his mom a little earlier this time. As they drove home, Marco just kept a smile on his face because he wanted to spare his mother the details about how he was a shitty friend and just watched as Jean had suffered instead of helped him. He laughed and talked to her like he normally would, but pretending to be happy was always just so damn  _exhausting._

That night, Jean was hard to get out of his thoughts again. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt such an intense urge to help the kid, and he felt a little weird for being so obsessed with it. He helped with dinner again, ate with his mother, and said goodnight to her as she went to bed early. This had become routine for Marco, except this time he felt a little too exhausted to watch TV, so he skipped that part and went straight to bed.

Bertholdts words just echoed in Marco's head over and over that night as he stared aimlessly at the ceiling above him. ' _Just give him a day and he'll be fine. Tomorrow he'll be himself again.'_

Marco could only hope so.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't very long, but I promise the next one will be. ^^


	3. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes another chapter!
> 
> I'm super sorry for yet another delay, school is hard around the end of the year!  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter. c:

It was absolutely freezing outside today.

The sharp chill of the wind made Marco shiver as he stepped out of the heated lobby of his apartment. He pulled his scarf a little tighter around his neck, doing a light jog towards his vehicle and hopping in, sighing a little as he shut the door behind himself. The car was just as cold as it was outside, so Marco stuck the keys into the ignition quickly, starting it up and cranking up the heat. Once he got onto the road, his shivering had subsided. He noticed that there wasn't as much traffic today as there usually was, and it was a relief because he left his apartment a little later then he had hoped to. As he pulled into the school's large parking lot, he noticed there wasn't much decent parking spaces. A lot of students liked to take up two parking spaces. Lovely, Marco thought, finally finding a spot to pull into and park. He got out of his car and locked it, slipping his keys into his schoolbag. As he began to head for the front entrance, he had to stop and wait for a car to pass him. His eyes had widened as he watched the car slowly drive by him, most likely looking for a spot to park that was out of the way of any danger. This car was amazing, Marco thought. It was a Ferrari 458. The sun would have glittered beautifully off the flawless paint job, but the clouds were in the way today. Marco looked up to see who was driving this magnificent car, and his eyes had widened again. It was Jean. Marco blinked in surprise as he watched the car pull into the middle of two parking spaces. Ah, so he was that kind of guy... Marco put a smile on his face quickly, walking over to where Jean had parked. Today he was going to talk to him again, and see if he was in a better mood than yesterday.

"Hey, Jean!" Marco beamed, approaching Jean who was getting out of his car. He noted that Jean looked better than he did yesterday in general, so he had a good feeling about this. Yesterday, Jean had looked worn out and exhausted with deep purple bags under his eyes, as if he had a lack of sleep that night. Today though, Jean didn't have those bags under his eyes. He looked refreshed, and his messy hair wasn't as messy as it was yesterday. Jean had looked at Marco for a moment, his eyebrows narrowed in that usual scowl he always wore on his face. But then he smiled slightly. There it was, that smirk that somehow managed to give Marco a fit of butterflies in his belly for unknown reasons.

"Hey, what's up?" Jean slipped his keys into his pocket after making sure to lock his beautiful car.

"Not much, just uh.. heading up to the school." Marco couldn't keep himself from smiling as he looked down at Jean. "You have a pretty awesome car, Jean." Marco's gaze landed on Jean's ruby red Ferrari that was parked behind him. Jean slipped his hands into the pockets of his large black hoodie, and looked behind him as if he wasn't sure of what Marco was talking about. 

"Oh, thanks, man." His voice was in a bit of a mumble, and he turned his gaze back up to Marco. "It's actually my dad's, though."

"Wow... He just let's you take it to school?" Marco was blown away. Jean's dad must really trust him to let him use a car like this so freely.

"Nope." Jean just smirked slightly, pronouncing the 'p' with a light pop of his thin lips. He then started to walk in the direction of the building's entrance, and Marco quickly followed him.

"So you just... took it?" Marco was in bewilderment. He would never do something so irresponsible, but it seemed like it was so easy for Jean.  

"It's not like he'd figure out. He's on a business trip." Jean insisted as the two ascended the steps to get to the doorway. Marco wasn't sure what to say, he just hoped Jean wouldn't get caught for borrowing such an expensive looking car from his father. 

"Oh... Okay, then." Marco chuckled a little. Well, he had to give it to Jean; he was a brave soul. The two headed into the cafeteria area to wait for the first bell to ring, and also Jean insisted on buying Marco and himself a coffee. Marco of course declined, not wanting to make Jean think that he needed to do this, but Jean just kept insisting, and finally Marco found himself sitting at a table with Jean, with a coffee _and_ a muffin (Because Jean insisted on that too).

"What do you got first?" Jean spoke with a mouthful of his chocolate chip muffin, his honey eyes locked on Marco's chocolate brown ones. 

"Math, sadly..." He sighed as he remembered he had math first thing today. He didn't really mind it, but it was too early to think logically. He brought his coffee up to his lips, blowing gently.

"That sucks. Hey, what kind of math are you in?" Jean didn't seem to know his manners, he still spoke with food in his mouth. Marco didn't mind at all though for some reason.

"Advanced. It's kind of h-"

"Nerd."

"Hey!" Marco laughed, before risking a small sip of his coffee. "Ow!" He jumped a little and pulled the hot beverage away from his lips. This made Jean laugh, so Marco didn't even seem to mind that be burnt himself anymore. He began to laugh with Jean as he set his coffee down on the table.

"I can go ask for some more milk in it if you want." He offered, and Marco quickly shook his head. 

"Don't worry about it, I'll just wait for it to cool down." Marco smiled, picking off another piece of his muffin and popping it into his mouth. For the remaining 5 minutes they had until the bell sounded, they talked mostly about their classes. Jean seemed to dislike all of his, except art because he actually, believe it or not, enjoyed making art. Marco thought that was amazing, and wanted to know more about it. Jean had told him that he liked to sketch mostly, but sometimes he enjoyed going for walks and just taking photos of things he found interesting or beautiful. Marco was amazed. The guy seemed so rough around the edges, but the deeper Marco had gotten with him, he seemed like such an interesting, easy going person. Right when Marco finally decided to ask about what happened to Jean's mood yesterday, the bell had rang. Marco was so curious as of what happened to him yesterday, but at the same time he didn't want to be too nosy about Jeans personal life yet. There is steps with friendship. _Take it slow, Marco._

They parted ways to head to their classes. Marco entered his math class with an uncontrollable smile on his face, and took his seat. He really did like Jean a lot so far, and the more he spoke with him, the more he wanted to get to know him.

"You look happy today." Armin remarked as he took his seat beside Marco, a kind smile on his own face.

"Oh, Hey Armin." Marco returned his smile, although he never honestly stopped smiling since he had parted ways with Jean earlier.

"Did you finish the homework last night?" Armin set his binder on his desk and unzipped it, and Marco had pressed a palm to his forehead. He had forgotten all about homework.

"Shoot..." He muttered. "I forgot we had homework..."

Armin quickly flipped through his binder, pulled out a sheet, and set it in front of Marco.

"Here, copy mine quick." He had whispered. Marco sighed in relief and relaxed.

"Thanks so much Armin, you're a life saver."

Marco scribbled down the answers really quickly, finishing just in time as the teacher came around to gather the homework. For the rest of the class, Marco found himself fidgeting a little, picking at a stray string on his cardigan. It was most likely because of the caffeine that he had this morning in the coffee. He felt like he could run a marathon right now, but instead he was forced to sit still and focus on learning math. It went by painfully slow, and as soon as the bell rang, he said his goodbyes to Armin and headed out, making his way down the crowded halls to his next class.

There was a debate in philosophy class today, and Jean got a little bit hostile with a kid with dark brown hair apparently named Eren on the opposing side of the argument. It started off with a mere disagreement on the topic, to Jean almost punching the guy in the face. Mr. Revaille had to give them an intimidating stare down to get them to take their seats again. Also, the suspension threat helped too. Marco took another mental note about Jean; hotheadedness. 

At lunch, they sat at the table with Bertholdt, Reiner and Annie again. But this time, Marco noticed as Jean and himself had sat down, that there were new people at the table. Reiner introduced Marco to Connie, a short boy with short buzz cut hair and a pretty loud mouth. Then there was Sasha. She was a pretty girl, with brown hair tied up in a ponytail, who also had a loud mouth. They were nice enough though, Marco thought. He just felt lucky to have made so many friends so quickly, and he was happy that there seemed to be more every day.

"I'm gonna go get some lunch, I'll be right back." Jean announced, getting up and heading over to wait in the line up of students. Reiner waited until Jean was out of earshot, and smiled at Marco.

"You know, Jean's pretty moody. Be careful." He joked. "Just warning ya."

"Oh, no he's really nice actually." Marco scratched the back of his neck nervously. He didn't know much about Jean, and he knew Reiner probably knew more about Jean than he did, but from what he's seen, Jean was a super cool guy. He may be moody, yes, but... it really didn't matter to Marco.

"Maybe he's nice to _you_." Connie laughed, leaning back in his chair a little. "He can be such a dick! So watch out."

Marco wasn't really sure what to say. Jean certainly wasn't a dick at all to him. Well, maybe he should be a little careful about this. He really didn't know Jean, he only knew a few things about him, so maybe they were telling the truth. Although it ran through his mind, he didn't seem to care if Jean was a dick or not.

"I'll make sure to watch out then." Marco chuckled softly.

"Hey, do you have any more of those strawberry things?" Reiner had his elbows on the table, his chin resting in his hands as he looked at Marco. Marco just shook his head.

"Sorry, not today. I can bring some tomorrow though!" He promised, and Reiner nodded.

"That's be awesome. I've been craving them all day after school yesterday. Right Bert?" He looked over at the sweaty giant, who was nibbling a sandwich of some sort. His cheeks flushed a little just with Reiner acknowledging him, and he nodded quickly.

Jean came back with a huge slice of pizza on a paper plate, taking his seat next to Marco.

"Pizza. Of course." Marco couldn't help but to laugh, remembering that Jean's favorite food of all time is pizza.

"Yeah." Jean smiled at him before stuffing it into his mouth. "It's so good." His voice was muffled due to his mouth being full of pizza.

"Now I need to go get one, it smells so good." The girl names Sasha was eyeing Jean's pizza. She already had a huge plate of fries, but it mustn't have been enough, because she got up and darted over to wait in line for the cafeteria. Connie sneakily stole a few fries as she was gone, making sure to tell everyone not to tell Sasha.

"I'm gonna tell her." Reiner eyed Connie as she was heading back with a slice of pizza.

"Don't do it man." Connie glared at Reiner. Clearly, Sasha took food pretty seriously. She wouldn't be fine with Connie nabbing a few of her fries.

"I'm gonna do it."

"Reiner, don't."

"Hey Sash-"

"Shut up!" Connie slapped a hand over Reiner's mouth, causing a muffled laugh to come from under Connie's hand.

"What?" Sasha plopped back down in her seat, already taking large bites of the pizza. "What did you do, Baldy?" Sasha's eyes landed on Connie.

"Nothi-"

"He stole some of your precious fries." Jean interrupted him, and Sasha glared at Connie. 

"No way!" She gave Connie a slap on the arm.

"It was only like... five!" He shot back, pulling away a bit from her when she playfully hit him.

Marco just watched everyone, and he couldn't hold back his slight laughter at it all. They were too much, and they all seemed to have great personalities. Annie and Bertholdt didn't seem to say much, but Marco had noticed sometimes they'd mumble little things to each other and laugh quietly sometimes with the group. Also, Reiner would usually drag them into conversations sometimes. Lunch had ended, and Sasha was still munching away on her fries, and as the bell rang she stuffed a handful into her mouth, grabbed her stuff, and ran off to her class with Connie close behind. Those two sure were something, Marco thought to himself. 

* * *

 

When Marco stepped into the art class room with Jean, he noticed that Bertholdt had taken Jean's seat to sit next to Reiner. It was apparently okay with Jean though, because without a complaint he just took the seat next to Marco again. The two got out their sketchbooks as Ms. Hanji informed them all it was a practice day. Practice days were where you got to sketch anything you want, or touch up a drawing you were working on, she had explained. 

Marco flipped open his sketchbook to the first sheet of paper. He had drawn nothing at all yet, and his sketchbook was completely empty. Unlike Jean, who's sketchbook was almost half way full already with sketches and drawings.

"Wow..." Marco was watching as Jean flipped through his sketchbook to find a blank sheet. Each page amazed Marco even more. He knew drawing was a passion of Jean's since Philosophy class, but he honestly didn't expect his art to be _this_ good. Some of his sketches were messier than others, a few stray lines more that was needed, but it didn't stop it from being beautiful work. There was sketches of women mostly, and they were all so gorgeous. They had perfectly executed proportions and anatomy, and copious amounts of detail were put into each piece. There was also some animals and landscapes as well.

"Those are so amazing, Jean..." Marco was almost speechless.

"Huh? Oh, these? Thanks, man." Jean smiled, finally finding an unused sheet in his book. "Most of them are just... doodles."

" _Doodles_?" Marco repeated, furrowing his brow. "How are those doodles? My doodles look like a two year old attempted to draw!"

Jean just laughed, sharpening his pencil. "It's just because I've been drawing for as long as I can remember."

Marco wasn't really sure what to attempt to draw. Jean's pencil was already skillfully dancing across the paper beside him, but Marco's remained blank for a good five minutes. Finally, he decided he'd attempt to draw a flower. He felt horrible about it as he began though, because he was absolutely no artist, when Jean was already sketching out the guidelines for a very dynamic pose. Marco sighed and put down his pencil, studying his own art he he finished. Messy lines, not enough shading, and yes, it looked like a two year old did it. Only now was he feeling a bit of self consciousness, and he closed his sketchbook.

"Done for now... Can't seem to get it to look the way I want it to." He chuckled a bit at Jean, his eyes trained on Jean's work. It was so beautiful. It was a woman again, with long, black hair down to the small of her back. She was facing away, but her head was tilted back so he could see her face. She had beautifully drawn, large eyes, just enough shading to contour her face nicely. There was small freckles dotting along her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose, some peppering her shoulders as well.

"It's beautiful, Jean..." Marco found himself whispering as he watched Jean add a few touch ups.

"Thanks." A little smile was tugging at the corner of Jean's lips, and finally he placed his pencil down after scribbling out a messy signature at the bottom corner.

* * *

 

"Marco, honey, can you pass me the baking sugar?"

"Sure, mom." Marco wiped at his forehead with his forearm, unknowingly smearing a bit of flour there. He stepped over to one of the cupboards and sifted through the baking supplies, before finding the baking sugar. He grabbed the bag of it and headed over to his mother.

"Here you go." He put it down next to her, watching as she kneaded the dough.

"Thanks, Hun." She smiled, her eyes still trained on her work.

"No problem." Marco returned to his own ball of dough, and began to work with it.

"So," He heard his mothers voice after about a minute of silence. "You never told me how school was today."

"Oh! Sorry." Marco laughed slightly. "It was great. I actually have a decent amount of friends already, so I just hung out with them." He picked the dough up, and let it fall back onto the wooden cutting board below him, letting it flatten out a little.

"I'm so proud of you, Marco." Her voice sounded soft and sincere, and Marco could tell she was smiling even though he couldn't see her face from where he stood.

"Will I be able to meet them some time?" She questioned, although there was now a playful tone to her voice. Marco chuckled, running a pizza cutter tool through the flat dough, cutting out long thin lines.

"I'm sure some time I'll have at least one of them over..."

After about an hour and a half of baking, the two had began to close up shop. They only made two sales that night, but Marco assumed that his mother had made more when he was at school. Marco drove his mother and himself home afterwards, and again they made supper together. Tonight they made steak and a Caesar salad. His mom made the salad, and Marco cooked the steak, and even added a few spices and things to add flavor to it. They sat and ate together, talking mostly about the Bakery and Marco's school. Everything was good, and his mother seemed less worked out today, something good must have happened today for her. Marco loved to see her happy again, because when his father had passed while Marco was 10, she seemed to lose a huge chunk of her cheery personality. All that was left of her was tired, usually forced smiles. She wasn't the only one that was broken because of the event though, it hit Marco hard as well. He may not have been as crushed as his mother about it, because he was the one who continued to support her through it all. When the fatal accident had happened, Marco remembers having to just hold his mom, and they both cried for hours on end that horrible night. It felt like a bad dream to him, like he could just wake up and his dad would be there with outstretched arms, but every time he opened his eyes, all he saw was his mother sobbing, his vision blurry from his own tears.

He shook the memory away, because his chest was beginning to feel tight again. It was seven years ago from now, and Marco knew he had to move on with his life, even without a father. He missed his father a lot, but thinking about him constantly could push him back into depression, and all he wanted was to get away from all that.

"You can go to bed mom, I'll do the dishes tonight." Marco forced a gentle smile at his mother, who had taken hers and Marco's plate over to the sink to wash them. She turned to give Marco a grateful smile, and nodded once.

"Thank you sweetheart." she cooed, stepping over to Marco and giving him a kiss on the forehead, before heading off to her room to go to sleep. It only took about five minutes for Marco to load up the dishwasher, because he liked to make sure every plate and silverware was rinsed before going into the washer. He may have been a bit of a clean freak, but that was a good thing, right? After loading the dishwasher and starting it up, he felt something brush up against his leg. He looked down with a smile to see Tigger, his cat.

"Hi, Tigger!" His voice was in a higher tone as he spoke to his cat, drying off his hands before kneeling down to run his hand along the cat's soft, calico fur. The cat let out a small 'mew', and Marco looked over to the food dish to see that it was empty. He grabbed the cat food and filled up the dish to the rim, and Tigger impatiently began eating before Marco was even finished filling the dish. That night as he finally went to bed, he began to read one of his books that he had recently acquired. He was already assigned to do a 'beginning of the school year book report' , so he decided he might as well cram as much of the book in as he could tonight to get a head start on it. It was called A Fault in Our Stars. It was pretty good so far, and Marco actually liked it more than he thought he would. It was supposed to be a love story, and he half-expected it to be nothing but sappy romance. Yet, it had an emotional side to it, and Marco knew as he got further into it, it would probably make him cry. _Hard_.

* * *

It was finally Friday, Marco thought. His week was fun, but indeed a lot of work already. It was mostly math and English that had piled up a work load on him, but he knew how to stay on top of it all. At lunch today, the group decided it would be fun to all walk down to the Starbucks that was close by. Jean had offered to drive some people in his fancy car, but since not everyone could fit, it was agreed that they'd all just walk. It was fun, everyone was joking around, and at one point Reiner, Connie and Jean were shoving each other around, Jean even jokingly threatening to shove Connie out into traffic. That's when Annie spoke up, and Marco thought it was the first time he really heard her voice.

"Hey, you guys need to settle the hell down." She sounded stern, but there was a surprisingly soft tone to her voice. The three listened and finally stopped horsing around as they got to Starbucks. They all got in line to order there drinks, while Annie went and found a place for them all to sit in the lounge area. Marco guessed she wasn't thirsty then. Sasha ordered first. She ordered a grande Mocha latte, with two muffins and a biscuit to go 'on the side.' After, Connie stepped up and ordered a muffin and no drink. Bertholdt was next, because Reiner let him go before himself. He ordered a Caramel Frappuccino, and that was all. Reiner got himself a Caramel Macchiato, ignoring Jean giggling about how it was such a girly drink for someone like him. Marco stepped up next and honestly, he had no idea what to get. He never usually came to Starbucks, so he wasn't sure what his favorite drink was, nor did he really even know what half of the things were on the menu. 

"Er... I'll get a medium Caffe mocha please." He handed the friendly looking girl at the cash register a 5, and she gave him his change and went off to go make it.

"Didn't see you as a Mocha kind of guy, Marco." Jean spoke up from behind him, and Marco laughed softly as he went to get out of line to wait for his drink with everyone else. 

"I don't know, they're pretty good."

"Yeah, they aren't bad." Jean stepped up to order his own drink once the girl at the cash register returned. "I'll get a Tall peppermint Mocha." 

Marco smirked at him. "So you're a mocha kind of guy too?"

Jean and Marco were the last two to take their seats. Well, Marco had, before he realized there wasn't any left for Jean.

"You're gonna have to sit on Marco's lap, Jean." Connie joked, Causing Reiner and Sasha to chuckle. Jean's face flushed a bit, and he glared at them.

"What the fuck?" Jean seemed pretty embarrassed, and Marco had to admit the thought made him feel pretty embarrassed too. He just watched as Jean grabbed an extra chair from and empty table and dragged it over. "You guys are messed." Was all Jean muttered as he took his seat, setting his mocha on the table.

"Jean's got too much dignity to sit on someone's lap." Sasha said with a mouthful of her 'on the side' biscuit. 

"Oh shut up. What kind of guy wants to sit on another dude's lap?" Jean retorted, his eyes narrowed more than they usually were. This made Reiner laugh, but Connie quickly inputted;

"Reiner. Reiner wants to sit on Bertholdt's lap."

"What if I did?" Reiner quickly retorted, his face somewhat serious as he glared at Connie, although Marco could see he was holding back a smile. Poor Bert's face was red again, and he sipped on his Frappe with a nervous expression on his face. He was probably trying his best to ignore Reiner and his overly-flirty personality. With an eye-roll, Annie crossed her arms across her chest.

Once they finished up, they decided they should head out before they're late for their classes. as they stepped outside, a chilling gust of wind hit them, and Marco hugged himself a bit. 

"Jesus Christ, it's as cold as a witches tit out here." Reiner grumbled, causing everyone to burst out laughing.

"A _what?!_ " Jean said between laughs.

"What, you've never heard that before?" Reiner glanced at Jean.

"No..." 

* * *

 

Today, Marco's last class was art. He sat next to Jean, who was already doing a quick sketch of a wolf. Apparently today was another 'practice day.' Ms. Hanji was a pretty slack teacher so far, Marco noticed. He just scribbled and doodled a little on the next page of his sketchbook the whole time, to at least make it look like he was making an effort.

"Hey, Marco?" Jean spoke up, and as Marco looked up from his work, he met Jean's piercing honey eyes. 

"Yeah?"

"Can I have your number or something?" Again, Jean asked what Marco didn't want to. _Yes. Yes you can have my phone number_ , Marco thought.

"Of course." He smiled, trying his best to sound cool about it, while on the inside, his stomach was doing back flips and other various gymnastic moves.

"Cool." Jean handed Marco his Iphone, and Marco tapped in his cell number. He handed it back to Jean with a stupidly big grin.

"I'll just text you later and you can add my number, alright?" Jean slipped his phone back into his pocket, and turned his attention back to his sketch.

"Sure!" Marco was ecstatic. Jean had asked for his number. That means that Jean wants to be _friends_ with Marco. _Friends_ exchange phone numbers.

Finally, the dismissal bell sounded, and everyone got up to leave, some more noisy than others. Well, it was Friday. Everyone was excited to get a break from school, and Marco had to admit that he was too. Although, he never really did get a break, due to the fact that he had to work at the Bakery with his mother all the time. He didn't really care though, he enjoyed working with her and spending time with her. 

As he got home with his mom that night, he still couldn't wait for that text message from Jean. During making supper, he waited anxiously. Eating supper, nothing yet. Washing dishes, still nothing. Marco glanced at the digital clock on the stove, and then back to his phone that rested on the counter. It was 8 O'clock, and Jean still hasn't texted him. He was probably out with Friends or something, he thought. Jean seemed like the kind of guy that would have more of a life outside of school than Marco, so he was probably busy right now. After washing the dishes, Marco grabbed his phone and decided to go watch some TV while he waited for that text. after about three episodes of Pokemon (Yes, Pokemon), Jean still hadn't texted him. Marco felt a little heavy about it, but he forced himself not to care and jump in the shower to try and pass a bit more time before he headed off to bed.

Standing under the warm water was nice. The shower was always a place Marco could get lost in his thoughts. Sometimes he'd even sing, but he was hesitant now that he lives in an apartment complex, someone might think there was a dying cat in here or something. Something he did really like about about the apartment was that the hot water never really ran out, so he could spend hours in the shower if he really wanted to. This time, he only spent about a half-hour in it. He stepped out, dried himself off, and slipped on the pajamas that he had brought in with him to change into. After rubbing a towel through his hair, he walked back to his bedroom and flopped onto his bed. He reached over and grabbed his phone that was on the side table, and squinted at the bright screen as he turned it on. There was an unread message, and Marco felt his heart beat faster as he opened it up.

 

 **From** **: unknown number**

**Hey, Its jean. Here is the text u wanted.**

 

Marco smiled at the screen, as he saved Jean's number, then typing up a message to send back.

 

**From: Marco**

**Hey Jean. Just saved your number, thanks!**

 

**From: Jean**

**Cool cool. What r u up to?**

 

Oh my gosh. Jean wanted to continue texting him. 

 

**From: Marco**

**Just got to bed, actually. Probably going to read more of my book or something. What about you?**

 

**From: Jean**

**What r u reading? And not much, just laying here I guess**

 

The whole damn time they texted that night, Marco smiled uncontrollably every time he received a text from Jean. His face was starting to hurt from how much he's been smiling recently. It was all Jean's fault. They texted for about an hour, most of it was pointless small talk, but Marco didn't care. He was texting his new friend, and that's all that mattered. He didn't even get a chance to read that night, because right now, talking to Jean was a bigger priority no matter how important the book was.

The book could wait.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that took longer than I had expected.  
> Hope you guys likes it, and thanks so much for reading!
> 
> I have a tumblr by the way, if anyone is interested, here's a link;  
> http://syrinide.tumblr.com/


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